On Saturday, October 27th, people from all walks of life will gather in Boston for a massive New England regional demonstration, part of a nationally coordinated day of protest against the war in Iraq called by United for Peace and Justice. Regional demonstrations will be held in 11 cities around the country.

The New England event will start with a rally at the Boston Common bandstand starting at Noon, followed by a march to Copley Plaza from 2:00 to 3:00 PM.

Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice said, “Never before have we seen anything like this. In regional centers throughout the nation people will gather in an expression of the wide spread opposition to the war. This war, with its senseless death and destruction in Iraq, is draining our communities as resources we need here at home are squandered every day. It is time to bring our troops home.”

The Boston demonstration is being organized by New England United, a coalition of a large number of peace and anti-war organizations in the New England area. The action in Boston has been endorsed by over a hundred organizations including several state labor federations, and the list is growing daily. For more information on the event, please visit the New England United website at http://newenglandunited.org/ .

New England United is working together with allied groups around the region to build a massive protest on October 27 and to help create a social movement that can stop the Iraq war and shift the political agenda in this country to further global justice and fund human needs. Following are the central demands that have been endorsed by New England United: "Bring All The Troops Home Now; End All Funding for the Iraq War Now; Support Our Communities, Fund Human Needs; No Attack on Iran; Stop the Attacks on Civil Liberties, Defend Human Rights."

Speakers for the event include noted historian Howard Zinn; John Olsen (President, Connecticut AFL-CIO); Felix Arroyo (Member, Boston City Council); Gabriel Camacho (Proyecto Voz, American Friends Service Committee); Shep Gurwitz (Veterans for Peace); Liam Madden (Iraq Veterans Against the War); Merrie Najimy (American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee); Wayne Smith (Unitarian Universalist Service Committee); Rostam Pourzal (Iranian-American specialist on human rights); Dahlia Wasfi (Iraqi-American MD); Jessica Zamiara (student, University of Vermont), and members of Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out. The event will also include cultural performances by Son of Nun (political hip-hop), David Rovics (topical folk) and other artists and groups. The final program will be announced shortly.